Actor Natsuyagi Isao has passed away at his home in the early afternoon of May 11th.

Natsuyagi was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last fall and has been coming and going to the hospital in between his acting jobs. He had played supporting roles in countless dramas and movies, including eHakuchu no Shikakue and eEleven Samuraie. His most recent drama was eGoing My Homee (Fuji TV). There are still a couple of movies such as eShusen no Emperore that have yet to be released, but will hit theatres in the near future.

Director Sono Sion also gave him a starring role in his recent movie eKibou no Kunie, for which Natsuyagi received multiple eBest Starring Actorf awards and the eMinister of Education Award for Fine Artsf.

Sono commented on his death, gHe told me, eLetfs work together for your next movie againf. He has gone too soon. Way too soon. There was no one better when it came to playing a real man. No one will ever be this good.h

Natsuyagifs friend and fellow actor from the same generation, Matsukata Hiroki commented, gChii (Takeo) has died. Now Natsuyagi has died away as well. It pains me and makes me feel lonely that the people from my generation keep on passing away. A lot of memories from our youth when we have been hanging out together come to my mind. All I can do now is praying for their happiness in the next world.h

His funeral service will be held in private with his family members only.

On August 22 around 7:00 am, enka singer Fuji Keiko (real name: Abe Junko / 62) was found on the ground facing upward in front of an apartment in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo.

According to the Shinjuku police, passersby saw a woman falling from the apartment and reported it to 110. Fuji was found bleeding and in cardiopulmonary arrest. She was transported to the hospital, where she soon passed away. The identity of the body was confirmed by her ex-husband.

Fuji's acquaintance, a man in his thirties, lives on the 13th floor of the apartment. When the police visited his room, he was sleeping and allegedly did not notice that Fuji was gone. The police are currently investigating an apparent suicide after finding one side of her slippers on the balcony.

Fuji was born in Iwate and raised in Asahikawa City, Hokkaido. Her father was a rokyoku singer and her mother a blind shamisen player. She gained popularity with her husky voice during the 1960s and '70s.

After making her debut with "Shinjuku no Onna" at the age of 17, she released hit songs one after another and rose to stardom. She has won the "mass popularity award" at the Japan Record Award and has appeared on the 'Kohaku Uta Gassen'.

Fuji married enka singer Maekawa Kiyoshi in 1971, but divorced the following year. After announcing her retirement in 1979, she moved to the United States. Fuji then married record producer Utada Teruzane in 1982, and gave birth to their daughter Utada Hikaru the following year.

On August 26, singer/songwriter Utada Hikaru released an official statement on her mother Fuji Keiko's death.

Utada started by saying, "It seems there have been much speculation going around, so please allow me to say a few things at this time." She revealed that her mother had been suffering from a mental illness for a long time, "I was always troubled about what would be the best for her."

She also reflected, "Since I was a child, I've watched my mother's illness progress. As her symptoms got worse, her distrust for people, including family, increased. She became unclear of the difference between reality and fantasy, and lost control over her feelings and actions. I was just tossed around, unable to do anything."

Regarding her mother's sudden death, Utada expressed, "While I hope that she has been released from her longtime suffering, I feel sadness and regret by her final actions."

On her mother before her death, she commented, "She was often misunderstood but... although she was very timid, she was strong spirited, filled with a sense of justice, loved to laugh, mentally quick, impulsive and dangerous like a child, scatterbrained that you couldn't leave her alone, and a very lovely person. Although there are many sad memories, when I think about my mother, I recall her laughing." She wrapped it up with, "I am proud to be my mother's daughter. I am filled with gratitude that I was able to meet her."

Finally, Utada thanked her fans saying, "I've received many heart-warming words. I realized that there are many people supporting me. Thank you very much."

Takashi Yanase, creator of gAnpanman,h one of the most popular Japanese anime series for children, died of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital early Sunday, his agency said Tuesday. He was 94.

He had been in the hospital since late August for liver cancer, according to the publisher of the Anpanman picture books.

Yanase, a native of Kochi Prefecture, became a cartoonist after working for a newspaper company and department store operator Mitsukoshi Ltd.

The Anpanman character (whose head is made of bread and filled with red bean paste) first appeared in a childrenfs tale in 1969. In the stories, which later became a popular picture book series, the hero offers his own head to feed the hungry. The TV show began airing in 1988.

In his storied life, Yanase was also a poet, lyricist, magazine editor and theater director.

In 2009, 1,768 different characters that had been featured in gSoreike Anpanman,h the TV show, were recognized by Guinness World Records as the most characters in an animated series.

After the Tohoku region was devastated in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the theme song of gSoreike Anpanmanh was repeatedly played in northeast Japan to cheer up the survivors.

Yanase wrote a song about the gmiracle pineh in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, that survived the tsunami.

He received the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette in 1991.

In 2000, he became director of the Japan Cartoonists Association and its chairman in 2012.

Anpanman museums have been established in Kami, Kochi Prefecture, where Yanase was from, as well as Yokohama, Sendai, Kobe and Kuwana, Mie Prefecture.

The singer of Japanese songs and genkah ballads had numerous hits in her career spanning 58 years, including gJinsei Iroiroh (gSuch is Lifeh) and gTokyo Dayo Okkasanh (gItfs Tokyo, Motherh).

Shimakura, who was from Tokyo, debuted in 1955 with the song, gKono Yono Hanah (gA Flower of this Worldh) after winning a contest as a high school student, and had since received several awards.

Shimakura won a national singing contest organized by major record label Nippon Columbia Co. in 1954.
Released in 1957, gTokyo Dayo Okkasanh was a smash hit, with sales of more than 1 million copies, cementing her place in the entertainment world. She played the lead role in a movie based on the song.

She continued to produce hit songs and appeared in the annual yearend music show of NHK a total of 35 times, including 30 consecutive years.

In 1987, at the age of 49, she released gJinsei Iroiro,h which racked up sales of 1.3 million copies. The tune earned her the best singerfs prize in the prestigious Japan Record Award.

Alongside her singing career, Shimakura appeared in television variety shows and also displayed her acting talent on the theater stage as well as in TV dramas and movies.

In her private life, Shimakura made headlines for her battle with breast cancer.

In 1999, she was recognized by the nation with the award of the Medal with Purple Ribbon.

Chiyoko Shimakura, known as one of Japanfs most enduring postwar singers, died of liver cancer at a Tokyo hospital Friday, her record label said. She was 75.

Actor Kanie Keizo passed away due to stomach cancer on 30 March at the age of 69 years old, as reported on 4 April.

Kanie was from Tokyo and became a stage actor in 1965 after graduating from the Shinjuku High School. Before appearing in his first drama i.e. TBS' "Okaasan" in 1966 and his first movie "A, Douki no Sakura" the following year. Besides being a popular supporting actor in various works, Kanie had also participated in 7 NHK Taiga dramas including "Ryomaden" and was seen as the grandfather of the heroine in last year's morning drama hit "Ama-chan". However, Kanie took leave to rest from January this year and stopped doing the narration for TV Tokyo's programme "Gaia no Yoake".

On October 18, it was reported that actress Nakagawa Anna passed away from endometrial cancer (also referred to as uterine cancer). She was 49 years old.

According to reports, Nakagawa passed away on October 17 at 8:40 am at a Tokyo hospital. She had been fighting against cancer while receiving treatment from her home. Her wake and funeral will be held with close relatives.

Nakagawa made her acting debut in 1988 with the movie 'Tonko' ('The Silk Road') and won the Japan Academy Prize for Newcomer of the Year. She shifted her focus to acting in stage plays in the 1990's.

Ken Takakura, who first rose to stardom in the 1960s playing yakuza outlaws, but later became Hollywoodfs go-to actor for made-in-Japan films, died on Nov. 10 at age 83 of malignant lymphoma. A private funeral had already been held when the Japanese media broke the story today.

The legendary actor most recently starred in gDearesth and Zhang Yimoufs gRiding Alone for Thousands of Miles.h Western audiences best know Takakura for his roles in Ridley Scottfs gBlack Rainh and 1992s gMr. Baseball.h

Born on Feb. 16, 1931 in Fukuoka, Japan, Takakura entered the Toei studio in 1955 after graduating from Meiji University. His breakout role was as an escaped prisoner in Teruo Ishiifs 1965 hit gAbashiri Prison,h which was loosely based on Stanley Kramerfs 1958 gThe Defiant Ones.h The film spawned a long-running series, while Takakura churned out hit after hit for Toei in the remainder of the decade and beyond. Usually playing stoic loners who move into action only after repeated provocations, Takakura became an iconic figure for a generation of Japanese moviegoers, much as Clint Eastwood did in Hollywood.

Takakura played a version of this character in Sydney Pollackfs 1974 gThe Yakuza,h with a script co-written by yakuza movie aficionado Leonard Schrader, together with Pollack and Robert Towne. By this time, however, Japanese moviegoers had tired of Takakurafs brand of gang actioner, whose good guys followed a code of yakuza chivalry routinely disregarded by the more realistic hoods of Kinji Fukasakufs popular 1973 gBattles without Honor and Humanityh and its sequels.

Even before leaving Toei in 1976 Takakura had begun moving away from his signature yakuza genre, playing a bankrupt-businessman-turned-extortionist in the 1975 Junya Sato thriller gThe Bullet Train.h In the remainder of the 1970s and after he appeared in a succession of starring roles, including an ex-con journeying to reunite with his wife in Yoji Yamadafs 1977 hit gThe Yellow Handkerchief.h Based on a story by Pete Hamill, the film was remade as a 2008 film of the same title by Udayan Prasad, with William Hurt starring in the Takakura role. Takakura also played a veteran dog handler in the 1983 Koreyoshi Kurahara smash gAntarctica,h which set a record as the highest-earning Japanese film of all-time that was only surpassed by Hayao Miyazakifs animation gPrincess Mononokeh in 1997. gAntarcticah was remade as the 2006 gEight Below,h with Frank Marshall directing.

In 1989 Takakura appeared in gBlack Rainh as a forbearing Japanese cop assigned to deal with Michael Douglasfs hot-tempered detective, who is after an escaped yakuza played by Yusaku Matsuda. He followed with a similar role as a pro baseball manager dealing with Tom Selleckfs spoiled former major leaguer in the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy gMr. Baseball.h

After the turn of the millennium, Takakura appeared only in a handful films, including 2005s gRiding Alone for Thousands of Milesh and his 205th and last film, Yasuo Furuhatafs 2012 gDearest,h playing a retired prison counselor making a journey of remembrance to the port where his deceased wife was born.

From 1959 until their divorce in 1971 Takakura was married to singer Chiemi Eri, but they had no children.

Certainly ranks among the most iconic on-screen figures in the history of Japanese cinema. Although he was immensely popular, his on-screen charisma overshadowed his considerable acting skills. He brought a lot of depth to his characterizations which is really apparent in his non-yakuza roles. A terrific actor.

Renowned actor Bunta Sugawara, who won fame portraying the grittiness and cruelty of small-time gangsters, died Friday at a Tokyo hospital from liver cancer, movie company Toei Co. said Monday. He was 81.

A native of Sendai, Sugawara starred in director Kinji Fukasakufs eight-part gBattles Without Honor and Humanityh film series beginning in 1973. The films were acclaimed for their realism, differing from previous works in the genre that emphasized the chivalry of yakuza.

Sugawara also played a rough-hewn but sincere long-distance truck driver in the gTorakku Yaroh (gTruck Guysh) series of 10 films from 1975, and in 1979 played a detective in gTaiyo o Nusunda Otokoh (gThe Man Who Stole the Sunh).

After making his film debut in 1958, Sugawara turned to yakuza films at Toei. The veteran actor also appeared on television in the NHK dramas gShishi no Jidaih (gEra of Lionsh) and gTokugawa Ieyasu,h and voiced a six-armed spirit in the 2001 Studio Ghibli animated film gSpirited Away.h

Japanese classic comic storyteller Katsura Beicho died of pneumonia on Thursday evening, his office said. He was 89.

Beicho, whose real name was Kiyoshi Nakagawa, was honored by the government as a living national treasure in 1996 and was awarded the Order of Culture in 2009 for the first time among storytellers of Japanese classic comic stories known as "rakugo."

Born in Dalian in what was then called Manchuria in northeastern China, he started his career as a rakugo storyteller in 1947 and took up Beicho the Third as his stage name.

He is credited with reviving and refining the art of storytelling in the Kyoto-Osaka area, known as kamigata rakugo distinct from Edo rakugo of the Tokyo area, through his performances of long-forgotten classics adapted to modern days.

Katsura Bunshi, head of the Kamigata Rakugo Kyokai, an association of storytellers, said he has been able to serve the storytellers' group because of Beicho's encouragement. "I have too many words to remember and thank him and cannot sort them out," he said.

Beicho made his last appearance on stage in January 2013. His regular radio program finished after he was hospitalized in August the same year.

Fans in the Kansai area covering Osaka and Kyoto mourned the rakugo master's death. "We in Kansai were proud of him," said Tamon Mochidome, a 39-year-old company employee from Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture. "He had dignity and was a role model for young people. We don't know if we will have a rakugo storyteller like Beicho."

Michiyo Minamino, 53, an amateur rakugo storyteller from Ikeda city in the prefecture, said, "I listened to him perform more than 10 years ago. He was like a god."

A Japanese restaurateur believed to have invented a popular style of ramen has died aged 80.

Kazuo Yamagishi first served the tsukemen dish at his Tokyo noodle restaurant Taishoken 54 years ago. It was an instant hit.

Tsukemen, which means gdipping noodles," consists of ramen eaten after being dipped in a separate bowl of thick soup.

Yamagishi came upon the idea from a staff meal that was served in a restaurant where he apprenticed as a teenager.

When he opened his own restaurant in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district in 1961, he put the now-famous dish on the menu.
Since then more than 100 chefs who worked under Yamagishi have opened their own restaurants across the country, featuring tsukemen on their menus.

Yamagishi died of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital on Wednesday.

A large group of regular customers who heard about his passing lined up in front of the Taishoken restaurant before it opened for business on Thursday.

A couple that had kept a photo they had taken with Yamagishi was among the crowd. The 49-year-old husband said Yamagishi was respected as a god in the ramen world in Japan, but he was quite accessible.

The current owner of the restaurant, Toshihiko Iino , said Yamagishi was kind to his staff, but uncompromising in the kitchen.
Iino added that even in his dying days, with his consciousness fading, Yamagishi kept murmuring gWelcome!" as if he was still serving his customers.

Actor and television celebrity Nagare Hagiwara, 62, died in an accident while he was riding on a motorcycle in Suginami Ward, Tokyo, on Wednesday evening.

Hagiwara, whose real name is Mitsuo Hagiwara, was found lying on the Ome Kaido highway with a large motorcycle shortly past 6 p.m. (9 a.m. GMT).

An eyewitness reported the accident to fire authorities. Hagiwara was unconscious when he was transported to a hospital by an ambulance and was pronounced dead around 7:25 p.m.

According to officials of the Metropolitan Police Department, Hagiwarafs motorcycle, which was traveling in the center lane of the three-lane highway, overturned as a van switched from the left lane to the center lane. He may have been hit by an automobile coming from behind, the officials said.

The police are investigating details of the accident.

Hagiwara, born in Tokyo, acted in movies as well as many TV dramas. He also appeared in TV variety shows.

Japanese actor and stage director Masayuki Imai died on May 28 of colon cancer. He was 54 years old.

The former Ground Self-Defense Force private debuted as a TV actor in 1987 when he appeared in a NHK drama series. Imai subsequently founded the theater group Elle Company. In 1991, he brought his original play "The Winds of God" to theaters in the United States, which depicted a man who time travels to the past and becomes a suicide attack pilot during World War II. Over the past 20 years Imai has performed in revivals of this play. In April, he announced that he was dropping his role in an upcoming performance due to illness.

Apart from stage appearances, Imai starred in various TV programs and movies. His funeral will be held among family members and a farewell ceremony is scheduled at a later date.
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May 28, 2015(Mainichi Japan)